Hillary Clinton: George Zimmerman verdict brought ‘deep heartache’

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke about the “heartache” of the Trayvon Martin case in D.C. Tuesday evening while speaking to an African-American sorority group.

“My prayers are with the Martin family and with every family who loves someone who is lost to violence,” she said in an almost 30-minute speech. “No mother, no father, should ever have to fear for their child walking down a street in the United States of America.”

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She said she knew this week has “brought heartache, deep painful heartache” to families in the wake of the not guilty verdict in George Zimmerman’s trial last Saturday.

Clinton also referenced U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s announcement Monday that the Justice Department will review the case.

“Yesterday I know you heard from the attorney general about the next steps from the Justice Department and the need for a national dialogue,” she said. “As we move forward as we must, I hope this sisterhood will continue to be a force for justice and understanding.”

Clinton’s comments came in a speech to the 51st annual convention of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, the largest African-American women’s organization in the country. Organizers said that more than 14,000 people were in the room to hear her speak.

Since leaving the State Department, Clinton has kept up a busy schedule of speeches and public or private appearances, many of which are focused on women’s leadership or greater rights for women across the globe. Her public schedule has further fueled speculation about her 2016 ambitions.

She isn’t the only high-profile figure in D.C. to acknowledge the sorority’s convention: President Barack Obama met with the head of Delta Sigma Theta at the White House earlier Tuesday afternoon.

In her speech, the former secretary of state also blasted the Supreme Court’s decision to strike a key section of the Voting Rights Act, saying the law is in “real jeopardy.”

“The Supreme Court struck at the heart of the Voting Rights Act,” Clinton said. “For more than four decades this law has helped overcome constitutional barriers to voting. Again and again it has demonstrated its essential role in protecting our freedoms.”

She urged attendees at the convention to push Congress to take action on restoring and rewriting Section 4 of the law.

“Unless Congress acts, you know and I know more obstacles are on their way,” she said. “They’re going to make it difficult for poor people, elderly people, minority people and working people to do what we should be able to take for granted.”

She spoke, as she’s done recently at other women-centric events, about the need for more women to take up positions of power — and about Delta members like former Labor Secretary Alexis Herman and Rep. Marcia Fudge who have advanced the cause of women in leadership.

“As you know, women still comprise a majority of the world’s unhealthy, unschooled, unfed and unpaid,” she said, adding that there’s been “a lot of progress” on women’s rights but that more needs to be done.

As has been the case in many of her speeches this year, Clinton’s potential 2016 bid wasn’t far from people’s minds. As she exited the stage, audience members cheered, “Run, Hillary, Run!”